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1502 - Christopher Columbus lands at Costa Rica on his fourth, and final, voyage.

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1684 - Birth of Johann Gottfried Walther Erfurt Germany, composer/Musicographer.

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1709 - Birth of Dr Samuel Johnson writer (Boswell's tour guide).

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1733 - Birth of George Read lawyer/signed Declaration of Independence.

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1739 - Treaty of Belgrade-Austria cedes Belgrade to Turks.

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1752 - Birth of Adrien-Marie Legendre mathematician, worked on elliptic integrals.

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1755 - Fort Ticonderoga, New York opens.

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1759 - British troops capture Québec City during the French and Indian War.

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1769 - Boston Gazette reports first US piano (a spinet).

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1779 - Birth of Joseph Story Massachusetts, US Supreme Court justice (1812-45).

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